The invention relates generally to railcars, and more particularly to railcar containers and an improved door for railcars and railcar containers.
Railcars take a variety of forms, such as passenger cars that carry travelers, hopper cars that carry grain, sand, dirt or other particulate materials, boxcars that define enclosed storage compartments into which cargo may be loaded, and container cars that are adapted to receive large cargo containers filled with items to be transported. Examples of container cars include flatcars and well cars. A flatcar, or flatbed car, is a type of railcar that has a planar container-supporting surface mounted on a lower frame and wheel assembly. Much like a flatbed truck, the container-supporting surface does not have sidewalls and therefore is open laterally on its sides.
A well car is similar to a flatcar, except that the container-supporting surface is recessed into the frame of the car and generally between the wheel assemblies, thereby defining a sidewalls and end walls that define a raised perimeter around the lower portion of a container, semi truck trailer, or other cargo loaded into the well car""s container supporting surface. Because the container-supporting surface is recessed within the frame, typically approximately nine to twelve inches above the rails upon which the car travels, well cars may support stacked containers, trailers or the like without exceeding a maximum acceptable height. For example, one company that produces well cars is Gunderson, Inc., which sells railcars under the trade names HUSKY-STACK and MAXI-STACK.
Railcar containers are typically constructed of steel and it is this steel construction that contributes to a number of disadvantages of existing containers, any one or more of which may be solved by the present invention. Examples of disadvantages of steel containers are the significant weight of the empty container as a result of the steel used to form the container, the vulnerability of the container to leaks that may result in damage to the materials being transported therein, the heat absorption because of the steel construction, and the ease at which the containers may be deformed and otherwise damaged during loading and unloading of materials.
The present invention is directed to composite railcar containers that overcome one or more of the above-discussed disadvantages of conventional steel containers. Both flatbed and well car containers are disclosed herein, as well as modular containers formed from prefabricated side, end, top and bottom panels. In some embodiments, the container is a temperature-controlled container. The present invention is also directed to an improved door for use on the invented containers, as well as conventional containers and railcars.
Many other features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description which follows and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which preferred embodiments incorporating the principles of this invention are disclosed as illustrative examples only.